Fumes control system including movable hood



J. R. SCHEEL A ril 30, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet- 1 Filed Dec. 27, 1966 .L m m T. E

N H I W WC EYE S N m W R O R G T N T H A Om J Y B 9 m ma m nl .mm \8 m L J. R. SCHEEL April 30, 1968 FUMES CONTROL SYSTEM INCLUDING MOVABLE HOOD 2 Sheets-Sheet '3 Filed Dec. 27, 1966 INVENTOR. J OH N R. S C H E EL ATTO RNEYS United States Patent 3,380,371 FUMES CONTROL SYSTEM INCLUDING MOVABLE HOOD John R. Seheel, Anderson, Ind., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Hawley Manufacturing Corporation, In-

dianapolis, Ind., a corporation of Indiana Filed Dec. 27, 1966, Ser. No. 604,929 Claims. (Cl. 98-115) The present invention relates generally to fumes control systems, and more particularly to the means for providing a ventilation system capable of exhausting a receptacle arranged for movement along a multi-curved ath. P Prior art ventilation systems have not provided for movement of the exhausted receptacle through a multidirecticned path without requiring disconnection of the exhaust system at each change in direction of the path. The present invention is primarily concerned with the provision of means whereby communication will be effectively established and maintained between a source of vacuum and a hood arranged to cover a receptacle which is movable along a path relative to said source. In addition to this primary object, it is a further object of the invention to provide means whereby communication may be always maintained between an elongated duct and a hood having a wide range of movement relative to said elongated duct.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a system whereby fumes arising from a receptacle which is movable along a multi-curved path will be captured at the receptacle and scavenged for discharge at a point where their noxious character will be rendered innocuous.

Further objects of the invention will appear as the description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, my invention may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings, attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only, and that change may be made in the specific construction illustrated and described, so long as the scope of the appended claims is not violated.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic, perspective view of an installation embodying my invention, the installation comprising a rigid duct having one end swivelly connected to a chamber arranged for movement along an elongated duct and its other end swivelly connected to a conveyor means arranged for movement along a curved .trackway;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary, elevational view of a portion of the conveyor means illustrated in FIG. 1 and illustrating a means for releasably connecting the two carriages of the conveyor means;

FIG. 3 is a somewhat diagrammatic view of an installation embodying my invention and illustrating the movement of the aforementioned rigid duct relative to said elongated duct;-

FIG. 4 is a greatly enlarged, fragmentary sectional view taken from FIG. 3 generally along the line 44 and illustrating a mobile ventilation system which may be utilized in conjunction with the ventilation system of the present invention to exhaust a receptacle which is movable along a multi-curved pat-h; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view showing another embodiment of my invention wherein one end of the aforementioned rigid duct is swivelly supported at the end of an arm which extends outwardly from the centerline of the supporting trackway.

The ventilation system herein disclosed finds primary utility in the scavenging of fumes from a pouring ladle 3,8fi-,37l Patented Apr. 30, 1968 "ice in a foundry, and it has been illustrated, and will be described in that environment. It will be clear, however, that such means will find substantial utility in other environments, and that, as to such means, the following description of the environmental details is intended to be illustrative and not limitative.

Referring more particularly to the embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 4, it will be seen that I have shown a conventional pouring ladle 10 supported by frame elements 11 depending from a swivelled support member 12. The support member 12 is carried by a member 12' depending from a carriage 13 provided with wheels 14 which are guided to run upon a trackway 15 which is supported by structural elements, not shown, of the foundry building. The trackway 15 and carriage 13 comprise what is commonly referred to as a monorail conveyor or conveying means.

Referring now to the installation illustrated in FIG. 3, it can be seen that the t-raclcway 15 has extensions 16 and 17 leading to melting furnaces 18 and 19, respectively. In FIG. 3, it can also be seen that the .trackway 15 has curved portions 20, 21, 22 and 23. Thus the carriage 13 must move about a multi-curved path defined by the trackway 15.

Fumes rising from the molten metal in the ladle 10 must be captured and discharged at a point where their noxious character will be rendered innocuous. Thus, a hood 24-, which is proportioned and arranged to cover the pouring ladle 10, is rigidly mounted on the frame elements 11 and support member 12 and is arranged to move with the pouring ladle wherever it moves along the trackway 15.

I have provided a flexible duct 27 which has one end releasably connected to the hood 24 by any well-known,

' quick-release coupling means, indicated generally by the reference number 28. The opposite end of the flexible duct 27 is swivelly connected to a first end of a rigid duct 29. The swivel connection, indicated by the reference number 30, between the rigid duct 29 and the flexible duct 27 is of a type well known in the ventilation art and need not be discussed in this description. The second end of the rigid duct 29 is swivelly connected to a chamber 31 so as to be movable in the direction of the arrow 32. The swivel connection, indicated by the reference number 33, between the rigid duct 29 and the chamber 31 is also of a type well known in the ventilat-ion art.

The chamber 31 is mounted on, and movable relative to, an elongated duct 34. A means, such as disclosed in United States Patent No. 2,923,227 to H. C. Hawley, is provided for maintaining continuous communication between the chamber 31 and the elongated duct 34.

The first end of the rigid duct 2% is swivelly supported by a second carriage 35 which is provided with wheels 36 guided for movement on the trackway 15. The swivel connection between the first end of the rigid duct 29 and the carriage 35 is provided by a shaft 37 depending from the carriage 35. said shaft being journalled in a yoke 38 which is rigidly attached to the first end of the rigid duct 29.

In some installations, it may be necessary to swivelly support the first end of the rigid duct 29 off-center with respect to the centerline of the trackway 15. Such an arrangement is shown in FIG. 5.

In the embodiment of FIG. 5, the yoke 38 and shaft 37 are supported at the end of an arm which extends outwardly from a carriage 35 adapted for movement on the trackway 15. The carriage 35" is similar to the carriages 13 and 35 except that an extra set of wheels 66, only one of which is seen in FIG. 5, is provided to counteract the off-center weight of the first end of the rigid duct 29, yoke 38 and shaft 37. Specifically, the wheels 66,

which are journalled in a side wall of the carriage 35', ride on the underneath side of an upper flange of the I-bearn which is used as the trackway 15. Of course, the wheels 66 could be eliminated and a weight could be used to counter balance the load on the end of the arm 65.

The purpose of the ofi-center arrangement is to prevent the rigid duct 29 from interfering with the support member 12 when the carriages 13 and 35 or 35 are moved about portions of the trackway 15. For instance, when the carriages 13 and 35 or 35 are moved along the extension 17 of the trackway 15 leading to the melting furnace 19, the ofi-center arrangement will prevent such an interference.

I have provided a spring loaded latch bar 39 for releasably connecting the second carriage 35 to the first carriage 13. In FIG. 2, it can be seen that the latch bar 39 is pivotally connected to the carriage 13 and that there is a spring 40 which biases the latch bar 39 into engagement with a pin 41 protruding from the carriage 35. The movement of the latch bar 39 in opposition to the spring 46 to disconnect the carriage 35 from the carriage 13 is suggested by the broken line drawing of the latch bar in FIG. 2.

When connected, the carriage 13 and the carriage 35 comprise conveyor means for movably supporting the pouring ladle 10, hood 24 and the first end of the rigid duct 29. That is, as the pouring ladle is moved along the path defined by the trackway 15, the first end of the rigid duct 29 moves along with the ladle.

In my invention, the rigid duct 29 has sufficient strength to provide a driving connection between the chamber 31 and the carriage 35. Thus, as the carriage 35 is moved along the trackway 15, the chamber 31 will be moved along the elongated duct 34 by the rigid duct 29.

The movement of the chamber 31 along the elongated duct 34 in response to movement of the carriage 35 is illustrated in FIG. 3. In FIG. 3, it can be seen that the ladle 1t? is adjacent to the melting furnace 19 where it receives molten metal. In accordance with my invention, the carriage 35', is connected to the carriage 13 and, consequently, movement of the ladle 10 away from the furnace 19 and along the extension 17 of the trackway pushes the chamber 31 in the direction of the arrow 42 to a dead-center position, indicated by the reference numbers 29A, 31A and 35A, until the carriage 35' is moved about the curved portion 20' and toward the curved portion 22. As the carriage is moved from the position 35A toward the curved portion 22, the chamber 31 will move in the direction of the arrow 43. After the carriage 35 is moved about the curved portion 22 and the rigid duct 29 and carriage 35' are in the positions 29B and 35B, further movement of the carriage 35 toward the curved portion 23 will move the chamber 31 in the direction of the arrow 42. As is clearly to be seen in FIG. 3, the duct 34 inclines away from that portion of trackway 15 which is between the curves 22 and 23 so that, when the parts are in the positions 29C, 31C and 35C, they are in an approximate dead-center condition and further movement of the carriage 35' about the curved portion 23 will cause movement of the chamber 31 in the direction of the arrow 44. Thus, the perpendicular distance from the elongated duct 34 to the point 35C on the trackway 15 is equal to the straight-line distance between the swivel connections at the ends of the rigid duct 29' minus the distance between the elongated duct and the swivel connection between the rigid duct 29 and the chamber 31 plus the length of the arm 65 extending from the carriage 35. Further movement of the carriage 35 about and beyond the curved portion 23 of the trackway 15 will move the chamber 31 in the direction of the arrow 44 as indicated by the positions 29D, 31D and 35D.

The installation shown in FIG. 3 comprises a generally U-shaped path defined by the trackway 15. It can be seen that the U-shaped path (trackway 15) is variably spaced relative to the elongated duct 34 so as to have its leg portions traversing the direction of elongation of the elongated duct beyond the respective ends of the elongated duct. It can further be seen that the base portion of the U-shaped path, between the curves 22 and 23, is in an inclined relation to the elongated duct 34 so as to have, at one end of said base portion, a point 35C which is the maximum distance from the elongated duct.

From the discussion above, it can be seen that I have provided continuous communication between the elongated duct 34 and the hood 24 as the hood is moved with the pouring ladle 10 from one end of the trackway 15 at the furnace 19 to the other end of the trackway 15, indicated by the reference number 45. In a similar manner, continuous communication is provided between the elongated duct 34 and the hood 24 when the pouring ladle is moved from the furnace 18 to the end 45 of the trackway 15. By providing a pump means 46 for exhausing the elongated duct 34, and since the hood 24 is in continuous communication with the elongated duct 34, I have provided means for continuously exhausting the hood 24. The pump means 46 is connected to the elongated duct 34 and to a similar elongated duct 47 by duct means 48, 49 and 50 shown in FIG. 3.

In the installation illustrated in FIG. 3, the elongated duct 47 is part of a ventilation system arranged to provide continuous communication between the pump means 46 and the hood'24 while the pouring ladle 10 is moved anywhere in the area 51. In the installation of FIG. 3, the carriage 13 supporting the ladle 10 may be transferred from the end 45 of the trackway 15 to a trackway 52 which is movably supported at its ends by carriages 53 and 54. The carriages 53 and 54, which are similar to the carriage 13, are movably supported on trackways 55 and 56, respectively. Thus, the trackway 52 is movable in the direction of the trackways 55 and 56 as indicated by the arrow 57. Of course, the carriage 13 is movable on the trackway 52 as indicated by the arrow 58.

When the carriage 13 and pouring ladle 10 are supported on the track-way 5-2, continuous communication is provided between the hood 24 and the pump means 46 through a flexible duct 59 which has one of its ends rele a'sably connected to the hood 24 and its other end swivelly connected to a chamber 60, similar to the chamber 31, which is movably mounted on an elongated duct 61, which is similar to the elongated duct 34, mounted on and extending along the trackway 52. The elongated duct 61 is connected to a chamber 62 by a rigid duct 63 which provides a driving connection between the elongated duct 6-1 and the chamber 62, the chamber 62 being movably mounted on the elongated duct 47. Means, similar to that described in the United States Patent No. 2,923,227 to H. C. Hawley, are provided for maintaining continuous communication between the chamber 62 and the elongated duct 47 and between the chamber 60 and the elongated duct 61.

From the foregoing discussion it can be seen that with the installation shown in 'FIG. 3, the pouring ladle 10 and hood 24 can be moved from a position near the furnaces 18 or 19 to the end 45 of the trackway 15 without a break in communication between the hood 24 and the pump means 46. At the end 45 of the trackway 15, the flexible duct 27 can be disconnected from the hood 24 and the flexible duct 59 connected to the hood 24 to permit movement of the pouring ladle 10 anywhere in the area 51 without a further break in communication between the hood 24 and the pump means 46. Quick-disconnect fittings, such as indicated generally by the reference number 28, are commercially available and will permit rapid disconnection of the flexible duct 27 and rapid connection of the flexible duct 59.

I claim as my invention:

1. Ventilation means comprising, in combination with first conveyor means arranged to movably support a receptacle having vapors emanating therefrom, said first conveyor means being arranged to travel in a predetermined path variably spaced relative to an elongated duct, second conveyor means arranged to travel in substantially the same path as said first conveyor means, hood means proportioned and arranged to cover said receptacle, chamber means arranged to move longitudinally relative to said elongated duct, means providing continuous communication between said chamber means and said elongated duct, rigid duct means having one end swivelly supported by said second conveyor means and its other end swivelly supported by said chamber means, said rigid duct means providing a driving connection between said second conveyor means and said chamber means, flexible duct means having one end connected to said hood means and its other end swivelly connected to said one end of said rigid duct means, means for exhausting said elongated duct, thereby providing a pressure differential between said hood means and said receptacle, and means for releasably connecting said first and second conveyor means, thereby requiring said one end of said rigid duct to move with said first conveyor means, the maximum distance of said path of said second conveyor means from said elongated duct being determined by the length of said rigid duct means.

'2. A ventilation means as in claim 1 wherein at least one point in said path is located on a line perpendicular to said elongated duct and separated therefrom by a distance such that, when said second conveyor means is at said point, said chamber means is in a dead-center position.

B. A ventilation means as in claim 1 wherein said one end of said flexible duct means is releasably connected to said hood means.

4. A ventilation means as in claim 1 wherein at least one point in said path is spaced from said elongated duct by a distance such that, hen said second conveyor means is at said point, said chamber means is in a dead-center position.

*5. Ventilation means comprising an elongated duct, a chamber arranged to move longitudinally relative to said elongated duet, means providing continuous communication between said chamber and said elongated duct, conveyo-r means arranged to move in a predetermined path variably spaced relative to said elongated duct, hood means movable with said conveyor means, rigid duct means having one end swivelly connected to said chamber and its other end swivelly connected to said conveyor means, said rigid duct means providing a driving connection between said chamber and said conveyor means, the maximum distance of said path of said conveyor means from said elongated duct being determined by the length of said rigid duct means, means connecting said other end of said .rigid duct means to said hood means, and means for exhausting said elongated duct, thereby exhausting said =hood means.

6. Ventilation means as in claim 5 wherein said means connecting said other end of said rigid duct means to said hood means comprises flexible duct means having one end connected to said rigid duct means and its other end relea'sably connected to said hood means.

7. Ventilation means as in claim 5 wherein said conveyor means includes first and second conveyors arranged to move in substantially the same path, wherein said hood means is supported by said first conveyor, wherein said other end of said rigid duct means is swivelly supported by said second conveyor, and including means releasably connecting said first and second conveyors, thereby requiring said other end of said rigid duct means to move with said hood means.

8. Ventilation means comprising an elongated duct, a chamber arranged to move longitudinally relative to said elongated duct, means providing continuous communication between said chamber and said elongated duct, conveyor mean's arranged to move in a generally U-shaped path, hood means movable with said conveyor means, rigid duct means having one end swivelly connected to said chamber and its other end swivelly connected to said conveyor means, said rigid duct means providing a driving connection between said chamber and said conveyor means, means connecting said other end of said rigid duct means to said hood means, and means for exhausting said elongated duct, thereby exhausting said hood means, said U-shaped path being variably spaced relative to said elongated duct so as to have its leg portions traversing the direction of elongation of said elongated duct beyond the respective ends of said elongated duct, said U-shaped path further having a base portion arranged in an inclined relation to said elongated duct so as to have, at one end of said base portion, a point which is the maximum distance from said elongated duct, said point being spaced from said elongated duct so that when said conveyor means is positioned at said point said chamber means is in a dead-center position.

9. Ventilation means as in claim 8 wherein said path includes a portion extending outwardly from the end of one of said leg portions.

10. Ventilation means comprising an elongated duct, means for evacuating said duct, a chamber mounted for movement along said duct, means for maintaining continuous communication between said duct and said chamber, a generally U sha'ped trackway having opposite leg portions respectively traversing the direction of elongation of said duct and positioned beyond the respective ends of said duct, said track-way leg portions being joined by a base portion variably spaced from said duct, conveyor means mounted to travel on said trackway substantially from end to end thereof, and means including a rigid duct providing a driving connection between said conveyor means and said chamber, said rigid duct being supported from said chamber and from said conveyor means upon parallel swivel axes substantially perpendicular to the plane of travel of said chamber and said rigid duct communicating with the interior of said chamber, the maximum spacing between said elongated duct and said tra'ckway being at the juncture between one of said leg portions and said base portion and having a value such that, when said conveyor means is disposed at said juncture, said rigid duct will be perpendicular to the length of said elongated duct.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,923,227 2/"1960 Hawley 98 1 15 3,148,614 9/1964 Nielson 981 15 FOREIGN PATENTS 572,262 3/1959 Canada. 604,448 8/1960 Canada. 600,439 4/1948 Great Britain.

ROBERT A. OLEARY, Primary Examiner. M. A. ANTO-NAKAS, Assistant Examiner. 

5. VENTILATION MEANS COMPRISING AN ELONGATED DUCT, A CHAMBER ARRANGED TO MOVE LONGITUDINALLY RELATIVE TO SAID ELONGATED DUCT, MEANS PROVIDING CONTINUOUS COMMUNICATION BETWEEN SAID CHAMBER AND SAID ELONGATED DUCT, CONVEYOR MEANS ARRANGED TO MOVE IN A PREDETERMINED PATH VARIABLY SPACED RELATIVE TO SAID ELONGATED DUCT, HOOD MEANS MOVABLE WITH SAID CONVEYOR MEANS, RIGID DUCT MEANS HAVING ONE END SWIVELLY CONNECTED TO SAID CHAMBER AND ITS OTHER END SWIVELLY CONNECTED TO SAID CONVEYOR MEANS, SAID RIGID DUCT MEANS PROVIDING A DRIVING CONNECTION BETWEEN SAID CHAMBER AND SAID CONVEYOR MEANS, THE MAXIMUM DISTANCE OF SAID PATH OF SAID CONVEYOR MEANS FROM SAID ELONGATED DUCT BEING DETERMINED BY THE LENGTH OF SAID RIGID DUCT MEANS, MEANS CONNECTING SAID OTHER END OF SAID RIGID DUCT MEANS TO SAID HOOD MEANS, AND MEANS FOR EXHAUSTING SAID ELONGATED DUCT, THEREBY EXHAUSTING SAID HOOD MEANS. 